


far above rubies

by TrekFaerie



Category: Psycho (1960)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Fix-It, Mental Institutions, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 14:58:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6709573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrekFaerie/pseuds/TrekFaerie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maureen survives. So does Norman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	far above rubies

**Author's Note:**

> i shipped this so hard it caused me pain so i had to make it right

He started to love her because, of course, she looked like Marion Crane. But, the more he got to know her, the more he knew that for all she looked like her, she wasn't anything like her. Marion had been fast, mysterious, witty but foolish.

Maureen...

He wasn't even sure if she was really human. He was starting to think that sleaze Duke was right. She was an angel, an actual angel.

She stayed with him until the cop cars came, holding his hand and letting him cry on her shoulder, and walked him, steady and sure, to the car. She caught a ride with the sherriff; when the admitting doctor asked who she was and why she thought she belonged there, she introduced herself as Norman's fiancée.

Only a few short weeks later, once Norman was out of the drug stupor they'd put him in on admittance, she managed to convince a justice of the peace to come with her to the hospital. A few cut red tapes later, she left as Mrs. Bates, the happiest woman to hold the title in a very long time.

She was a housewife without a husband to care for, so she put her whole heart, the energy she'd once reserved for loving the Lord, into managing the house and motel. He'd heard the house was somewhat livable again, thanks to her, and though all the dark memories couldn't be touched by lemon-scented disinfectant, she had removed much of the grime and dust that had made it even gloomier than its past did.

Every time visiting hours rolled around, she was there-- and every time did literally mean every time. Some people in the hospital, the saddest ones who rarely talked and lost themselves in their madness, never got visitors at all. But, every time, she would be there, in a pretty new dress she always nervously asked if he liked (he did, always) and a bright smile and endless stories about how well the motel was doing, how they were always booked and she could hardly keep up with business anymore.

(She never told him, but he knew why it was suddenly such a hot spot. He'd read the papers. Everyone was dead certain the place was haunted; there wasn't a paranormal tourism guide in the nation that didn't mention the old Bates Motel as a place you definitely had to scope out.)

(She never told him she charged double for room one. The papers never mentioned it.)

There was only one thing they ever argued about, that made them raise their voices in that brightly lit sitting room all the visits happened in. At first the guards, shocked by the only slightly increased volume, had moved in, but they'd backed away when they realized the topic. Such conversations deserved to be kept between man and wife, even in there.

She wasn't getting any younger, she argued. He wasn't sure he felt comfortable playing the genetic lottery with another human being's life, he argued back. And, besides, even with his good behavior, he definitely hadn't earned such a, well... _intimate_ visit so soon. There was no way it would work.

He gave in, though. He always gave in to her. 

And it was amazing, really, the things they could do artificially, these days.

She was born early, too early, and just barely cracked four pounds. They'd wanted to have her in a hospital close to him, so he could be there, but the premature labor had ruined their plans. Still, he was there when she left NICU, and though his arms and legs were chained and two armed guards flanked him, he was able to hold his daughter in his trembling arms.

Maureen named her Catherine Mary Bates. He thought it was a good name.

When she was old enough, to both go and understand, Cathy would come visit her father. Until then, he was content to listen to her babble excitedly on the phone, becoming more articulate and enchanting with every day that passed far too quickly.

There would be at least one happy childhood in that old house. He was going to make sure of that.

**Author's Note:**

> and then when Norman definitely gets out again they move to Canada and become a traveling folk band so Lu doesn't have to keep getting frustrated.


End file.
